Man jailed for killing nine-year-old boy 'driving at horrendous speed'

A man who killed a nine-year-old boy in Bundoran in Donegal while driving at “horrendous speed” has been jailed for five years and banned from driving for 20 years, Donegal Live has reported.

Sergee Kelly, who fled the scene after knocking down little Ronan Wilson, was sentenced at Donegal Circuit Court.

He was given a five-year sentence for dangerous driving causing the death of Ronan Wilson on September 23, 2023. Five-year sentences were also imposed on charges of failing to offer assistance and failing to stop following the incident. 

A large number of the Wilson family were present in court, some holding photographs of Ronan and cuddly toys.

Kelly was driving at over 100km/h when he struck the young boy - who was on a weekend break in Bundoran with his family from Kildress in County Tyrone - with such force he was thrown into the air and propelled 58m down the road.

Kelly, a 24-year-old of Upper Mullaghmore in County Sligo, went on a drink and drugs bender just minutes after the fatal collision.

Sentencing Kelly at Letterkenny Courthouse, Judge John Aylmer said it was “disturbing” to read a report from a psychiatrist which noted that Kelly made out that he didn’t realise that he had struck someone; instead suggesting that he felt he had hit the wing mirror of the car.

“That is indicative of a failure to acknowledge your responsibility, that was entirely contrary to a plea of guilty,” Judge Aylmer told Kelly, who stood emotionless in the dock as his fate was handed down.

“It was an extremely callous thing, knowing that you hit someone - and I take it from your pleas that you knew that you hit someone - thereby removing the possibility that the unfortunate victim might still be alive and saved by medical attention.”

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The court was told that Atlantic Way is governed by a 50km/h speed limit and is managed by a continuous white line. At the time of the collision, Kelly was driving between 100-100km/h.

Ronan and his family were in Bundoran on a weekend break and he was returning to an apartment with two other children having gone to get fruit shoots when the collision occurred. 

The late Ronan Wilson

Expert gardai estimated that had he been going at the required speed limit, Kelly would have had at least two seconds to respond to the presence of a pedestrian.

The court heard that the tint on the windows was over the legal threshold and restricted the driver’s visibility. The driver’s seat was reclined to such an extent that, while sitting in the seat with the head on the headrest, vision would have been greatly reduced and the driver would have “barely been able to hold the steering wheel”.

Judge Aylmer noted a report from a trained vehicle inspector saying that the seat was so far reclined that Kelly could hardly see over the bonnet.

Ronan was airborne for a significant period and came to rest almost 60m from the point of impact, the court was informed.

Judge Aylmer said that the speed was one of the most aggravating features in the case.

“Bundoran, in the month of September, very much a holiday town where one can expect children to be crossing the road,” Judge Aylmer said, “as young Ronan was to get himself an ice pop.”

Judge Aylmer described the speed of Kelly’s driving as “horrific” and noted that had he been travelling at the speed limit there was a “very good chance that he (Ronan) could have escaped without significant injury. Travelling at that speed ensured that he had little chance.”

Gardai at the scene of the fatal collision in September, 2023. (North West Newspix)

Kelly, wearing a navy suit and tie, stared into the distance as Judge Aylmer noted the “troubling elements” in relation to the tinted windows and seating position.

He placed the starting point for sentencing at eight years in prison, considering the matter “very much at the upper end of such offending” and a case that had a “very high degree of culpability”.

The charges of failing to offer assistance and failing to stop, Judge Aylmer said, had the same level of culpability, removing the potential for lifesaving if it were there.

Kelly came before the court on a signed plea, entitling him to a reduction of his sentence by one third. Judge Aylmer said he accepted that Kelly was now remorseful and he had “no doubt” that the accused would feel remorseful for the rest of his life.

Kelly was previously sentenced to prison in 2019 for stabbing a youth in the face while he was fined €2,000 at Sligo District Court in 2021 for an offence of careless driving after being caught driving at 160km/h.

Kelly, who was supported in court by his mother and father, had previously told the court that he was born in Belarus and was adopted by a family in Sligo at the age of three. He was diagnosed with ADHD and has been involved with CAHMS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) from a young age. 

Judge Aylmer said he already took into account the history of ADHD when sentencing Kelly for the stabbing incident.

“You should have learned your lesson on the previous occasion,” Judge Aylmer told Kelly. “You didn’t. Your history of ADHD provides not zero mitigation, but nothing substantial.”

Judge Aylmer reduced the sentences for dangerous driving causing death, failing to stop and failing to offer assistance to five years in prison with the sentences to run concurrently. A charge of failing to keep the vehicle at the scene was marked as taken into consideration.

Judge John Aylmer. (North West Newspix)

Kelly was also disqualified from driving for a period of 20 years before being led away by prison officers to begin his time behind bars.

Kelly’s barrister, Mr Colm Smyth SC, said this was a “horrendous accident that took the life of a young child who brought so much joy to his mother and father and the extended family”.

He said his Kelly, who is now “a pariah in his community”, came forward at the earliest opportunity to admit his guilt. He said this was a massive error of judgement and something he would carry with him for the rest of his days. 

A sentencing hearing was informed how Kelly continued driving and then went on the town, drinking alcohol and taking cocaine before smoking a joint on his arrival back home in the early hours of the next morning.

A blood sample taken from Kelly during his detention at Ballyshannon Garda Station was positive for cocaine. The sample was taken at 5.40pm on September 24 - around 17 hours after the collision.

CCTV footage showed Kelly walking out of a caravan park and rolling a cigarette just minutes after killing the young boy, whose body was taken to Sligo University Hospital for a post-mortem examination. State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster said that the young boy suffered a traumatic brain injury. 

Ronan’s grieving mother, Emma, told in a victim impact statement how Ronan was “an exceptionally joyful child” who took to kicking a football immediately when he began to walk.

Her son “truly stood out” and he was a passionate supporter of the Kildress GAA club who also eagerly awaited the opening of a new boxing club in the area. “He never got the chance to see it,” Ms Wilson said.

She recalled saying to Ronan on the fatal night:  “Be good. Keep the noise down and it’ll see you later” and 15 minutes later she was holding her dead son in her arms.

“The loss of his potential left us devastated; an open wound that will never heal.”

Ronan’s aunt Shanon said their world “fell apart” at the loss of “wee Roro, the best wee man who would give you his last slice of pizza even if he was hungry” and his beloved grandmother, Imelda McCauley, said the family is “living in a nightmare which never gets any easier”.